At a time when several European leaders defend the strengthening of the continent’s military capabilities, the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, chose this Saturday, 14, to make a clear difference: rrejected nuclear rearmament and called on the atomic powers to wage a new arms race “while it is still possible.”
The intervention took place at the Munich Security Conference, one of the main global forums for debate on geopolitics and defense, where Sánchez became the first Spanish head of government to speak at this conference, which has been running since 1963.
“A historic mistake”
Before an audience made up of political leaders, military officials and international security experts, Sánchez was direct: Betting again on strengthening nuclear arsenals would be, in his words, “a historic mistake”.
The Spanish leader warned that nuclear powers are currently spending more than 11 million dollars per hour on atomic weapons and recalled estimates according to which the United States could invest around 946 billion dollars in nuclear weapons in the coming decades.
“It’s not a question of left or right. It’s a question of doing what’s right”he highlighted, quoted by EFE agencycalling for the negotiation of a New START nuclear arms control agreement that replaces the recently expired treaty between Moscow and Washington and prevents escalation.
“I implore you to stop the start of a new arms race while it is still possible. Humanity will be eternally grateful and will judge you if you do not do so,” he said.
Sánchez said that the advancement of artificial intelligence adds a factor of uncertainty to the global strategic balance, making any race for nuclear arsenals even more risky. “This is a historic mistake that we cannot repeat, especially today, with the shadow cast by artificial intelligence, a shadow of uncertainty over the entire world.“, he complained.
Strengthen defense, but without nuclear weapons
Despite his firm stance against atomic rearmament, the head of the Spanish Government reiterated Spain’s commitment to European security, especially in the face of the threat from Russia.
Sánchez recalled that, since taking office, Spain has tripled defense spending and doubled the number of military personnel deployed on NATO missions.. He also defended the strengthening of European capabilities and once again supported the creation of a European army, “not in ten years, but already”.
Relationship with the USA and the future of Europe
At the same forum, Sánchez expressed disbelief at statements from figures in the North American administration who view the European Union as a strategic threat and left the message that the United States will have to accept “a Europe that is more integrated and capable of acting on its own”.
Alongside Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Finnish President Alexander Stubb, the Spanish leader defended that the European Union is “one of the greatest political projects of the 20th century and a pillar of global stability”.
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